2015 Writing Opportunities

Are you looking for 2015 writing opportunities? Interested in free contests and opportunities as well as fee-based? Then this list will definitely be a helpful place to start. We’ve searched the web and come up with some great opportunities for the first part of 2015. Hope you can find one that is just right for you!

These 2015 writing opportunities are divided into continuous opportunities and opportunities with a deadline. Opportunities are listed in chronological order and further divided into free and fee-based opportunities to help make the list more readily accessible. If you have an opportunity you would like added to this list, please email us so that we can add it. Thank you!

Printers Row
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication
Special Requirements: Must be a legal United States citizen, 18 and over
Contest: Accepting on a rolling basis: fiction; no previously published works
Website: https://printersrow.submittable.com/submit

WIPs: Works (of Fiction) in Progress
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication
Contest: Seeking works of fiction that are part of a greater book project. In most cases that means a novel excerpt, or a short story headed for a collection, but WIPs is open to any piece that fits the bill. Pieces should be 1500-7500 in length.
Website: https://wipsjournal.submittable.com/submit

Continuous Fee-Based Writing Contests

Narrative
Entry Fee: It states that there is a nominal reading fee, but we could not find the cost exactly,
Prize: Some accepted pieces receive no payment, others vary from $50-$1000 depending on the piece. Submissions are also eligible for $4000 narrative Prize.
Contest: This site takes a wide variety of pieces on a rolling basis. Accepting short short stories, manuscripts 2000-15000 words long, novellas, serialization of book-length works, poetry, one-act plays, audio, and more. Please see the website for complete details.
Website: http://www.narrativemagazine.com/node/360

January FREE Writing Contests

Sliver of Stone
Deadline: January 15, 2014
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication
Contest: Accepting poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Poetry may be up to 3 poems. Fiction and nonfiction may be up to 3500 words.
Website: https://sliverofstone.submittable.com/submit

Prairie Schooner Blog Submissions
Deadline: January 15, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication
Special Requirements: Theme is Women and Global Imagination
Contest: Seeking essays, articles, or something in between, on the theme of Women and the Global Imagination. Pieces must be 500 to 2,000 words of well-considered wit, pith, and syntax.
Website: https://prairieschooner.submittable.com/submit/37465

Museum of Americana
Deadline: January 15, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication
Special Requirements: Theme is music and must explore/repurpose America’s music cultural history
Contest: Accepting original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, book/chapbooks review, writer interviews, and more. See website for full details.
Website: http://themuseumofamericana.net/submissions/

Benu Press
Deadline: January 31, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publishing contract for 15% royalty from book and 20 copies of the book.
Special Requirements: Theme is social justice
Contest: Accepting full-length manuscripts or fiction or essay collections on the theme of social justice. Must not be previously published.
Website: https://benupress.submittable.com/submit

Parody Poetry Journal
Deadline: January 31, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication and a copy of the journal
Special Requirements: Theme is Optical Trickery
Contest: Looking for short poems, limericks, and/or haiku with humor or that parody famous poems.
Website: http://parody.onimpression.com/p/submission-guidelines.html

Amuse-Bouche
Deadline: January 31, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication
Contest: There are detailed rules on the submission page that you will need to follow. No specific genre accepted. Accepting poetry, flash fiction, fiction, creative nonfiction, works in translation, and art.
Website: https://lunchticket.submittable.com/submit/22526

Tavern Books: The Wrolstad Contemporary Poetry Series
Deadline: January 15, 2015
Entry Fee: $25
Prize: A standard royalty contract; A working relationship with an editorial staff and publisher; Publication of their book in both paperback and hardcover editions; National distribution through Small Press Distribution
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Female poets 40 or younger who are US citizens only.
Contest: Manuscripts must be previously unpublished full-length collections of original poetry written in English (40 pages of text, minimum). Portions of the manuscript may have appeared elsewhere (such as chapbooks and literary journals), but the manuscript as a whole must be previously unpublished.
Website: http://tavernbooks.com/wrolstad-series

William Matthews Poetry Prize
Deadline: January 15, 2015
Entry Fee: $20
Prize: (1st) $1,000, publication in Asheville Poetry Review, and a featured reading in Asheville; (2nd) $250, publication, and a featured reading in Asheville; (3rd) Publication and a featured reading in Asheville
Contest: Send 1-3 poems, any style, any theme, any length, with a $20 entry fee (payable to Asheville Poetry Review) via regular post.
Website: http://www.ashevillepoetryreview.com

Psychopomp Magazine Short Fiction Award
Deadline: January 31, 2015
Entry Fee: $15
Prize: $500 and publication
Contest: Short fiction or stand-alone portion of a novel or novella up to 6000 words. Looking for innovative and ground-breaking fiction
Website: http://psychopompmag.com/contests/

Dickinson House Fellowships for Writers
Deadline: January 31, 2015
Entry Fee: $18
Prize: One of 3 fellowships that cover room and board for a 2-week to 4-week residency.
Contest: Submit 5-10 pages of recent creative work and cover letter/statement of purpose (essay stating your reasons for wanting to come). More information available on website.
Website: https://111o.submittable.com/submit/36967

Darkhouse Books
Deadline: February 14, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication in upcoming anthology
Contest: Looking for stories (2,500-7,500 words) for a science fiction anthology that takes place in the future as envisioned by the World’s Fair f 1939 known as “The World of Tomorrow.” Submit in Microsoft Word format via email. Pieces must not have been published after April 14, 2014, and writer must own rights to e-book, audio, and print versions.
Email: Website was not included, but email entries with subject line “Submission-(YOUR TITLE)” to submissions@darkhousebooks.com

Fiction International
Deadline: February 15, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication
Special Requirements: Set theme of “Fluids”
Contest: Submit fiction, nonfiction, and indeterminate prose tests up to 5,500 words long on the subject of “fluids.”
Website: https://fictioninternational.submittable.com/submit

Grapple Annual No. 2
Deadline: February 17, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Ranges from $50-150+ depending on length and type of piece
Special Requirements: Piece must relate to one day of the year and must not be a date from Annual 1.
Contest: Accepting stories, poems, comics, and more for upcoming collection.
Website: https://grapplepublishing.submittable.com/submit

2016 Texas Poetry Calendar
Deadline: February 20, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication
Special Requirements: No previously published poems, even on personal blogs or websites
Contest: Submit 1 – 3 poems, with each poem on a separate page. 35-line limit per poem, including title and spaces. They highly recommend that you submit at least one short poem – 10 lines or less, including title and spaces. They welcome haiku, tanka, and other short forms. They prefer poems with a Texas connection.
Website: https://dosgatospress.submittable.com/submit

The Non/Fiction Collection Prize
Deadline: February 14, 2015
Entry Fee: $20
Prize: $1500 and publication by the Ohio State University Press
Contest: Eligible submissions include an unpublished manuscript of short stories or essays; two or more novellas or novella-length essays; a combination of one or more novellas/novella-length essays and short stories/essays; a combination of stories and essays. Novellas or novella-length nonfiction must be part of a larger collection. Manuscripts may be no fewer than 150 and no more than 350 typed double-spaced pages, 12-point font.
Website: https://english.osu.edu/creative-writing/journal/prose-prize

2015 Able Muse Write Prize
Deadline: February 15, 2015
Entry Fee: $25
Prize: $500 for best poem, $500 for best short story
Contest: Submit up to 5 poems (no more than 10 pages) or 1-2 stories (each under 1500 words).
Website: http://www.ablemusepress.com/ablemuse-write-prize

Murder Under the Oaks
Deadline: March 1, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: One copy of anthology and invitation to participate in signing at convention.
Contest: Held by Bouchercon 2015; writers may submit a short story (3500-5500 words) by email.
Website: http://www.bouchercon2015.org/anthology.html

Cahaba River Literary Journal
Deadline: March 20, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Copy of journal
Contest: We need stories, poems, essays, and color and black and white photography on all subjects, in any form. Length of stories: no more than 2500 words; poetry no more than 25 lines (only submit 3 poems at one time).
Website: https://cahabariverliteraryjournal.wordpress.com/

2015 Earth Day Poetry Contest
Deadline: March 31, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Gift bag of nature-related items, $25 donation to the charity of winner’s choice, publication in the spring issue of The Avocet: A Journal of Nature Poetry; 2nd and 3rd place will be published as well
Contest: Submissions are now being accepted for the 2015 Earth Day Poetry Contest. Poems must be about nature, with a 32-line limit each and up to two poems per submission. Previously published poems are acceptable. To enter, send submissions in the body of an email along with name, address, and titles of poems submitting.
Email to: stacyrsavage@yahoo.com
Regular post: Earth Day Poetry Contest, 3121 Mounds Rd., Anderson, IN 46016

Locked Horn Press
Deadline: March 15, 2015
Entry Fee: $10
Prize: $250 and 2 contributor copies, along with print and online publication
Special Requirements: Only accepting poems on the theme below.
Contest: Up to three unpublished poems. Poems must answer/address: What is/are America(s)? What are its boundaries? Are you part of it? Where is it? Is it real? Looking for Americas of the mind, of physical space, of the body and bodies in and around it. Hoping to find poets who are re-writing borders—borders of inclusion and exclusion, safety and danger, the re-purposing/stealing of resources, of human over citizen—in order to compile an anthology that explores and grapples with the idea of America(s)
Website: http://www.lockedhornpress.org/about

2015 First Book Poetry Competition
Deadline: March 31, 2015
Entry Fee: $28
Prize: $1000, publication, and standard royalty contract
Contest: Manuscripts are eligible for the First Book Poetry Competition if the author has not published or committed to publish a collection of his or her poetry in a book of 48 pages or more with a press run of at least 500 copies.
Website: http://www.csupoetrycenter.com/essay-prize-1/

2015 Open Book Poetry Competition
Deadline: March 31, 2015
Entry Fee: $28
Prize: $1000, publication, and standard royalty contract
Contest: Manuscripts are eligible for the Open Book Poetry Competition if the author has published at least one full-length collection of original poetry in English (of 48 pages or more with a press run of at least 500 copies).
Website: http://www.csupoetrycenter.com/essay-prize-1-1/

April Fee-based Writing Contests

2015 Frost Farm Metrical Poetry Contest
Deadline: April 1, 2015
Entry Fee: $5 per poem
Prize: $1000, publication in Evansville Review and an invitation, with honorarium, to read as part of The Hyla Brook Reading Series at the Robert Frost Farm in Derry in the summer of 2015.
Contest: Poems must be original, unpublished and metrical (any metrical form). No translations. There is no limit to the number of poems entered by an individual, but an entry fee of $5 U.S. per poem must accompany the submission.
Website: http://www.robertfrostfarm.org/poetry-contest.html

Creative Nonfiction
Deadline: April 13, 2015
Entry Fee: $20
Prize: Publication; $1000 (1st) and $500 (2nd)
Special Requirement: Must be an essay about weather.
Contest: They are looking for creative essays on “weather”.
Website: https://www.creativenonfiction.org/submissions/weather

Raleigh Review
Deadline: April 30, 2015
Entry Fee: It states there is a small submission fee but does not tell how muchPrize: $10 per piece plus one copy of the magazine
Contest: Accepting poetry (4-5 poems), flash fiction (1 piece up to 1200 words), and short fiction (1200-7500 words, but prefer less than 5000)
Website: http://www.raleighreview.org/Submission_Guidelines.html

May FREE Writing Contests

Fairy Tale Review
Deadline: May 15, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication
Contest: Accepting fairy tale pieces. For prose, you may submit up to 8,000 words of a single piece or three, linked flash pieces each under 1,000 words in a single document. For poetry, you may submit up to 5 poems totaling no more than 10 pages. There is not specific theme. Accepting fiction, nonfiction, and drama.
Website: https://fairytalereview.submittable.com/submit

River Teeth Journal Submissions
Deadline: May 1, 2015
Entry Fee: FREE
Prize: Publication, 2 complimentary editions of the magazine, one year subscription
Contest: Seeking creative nonfiction, including narrative reportage, essays, and memoirs, as well as critical essays that examine the emerging genre and that explore the impact of nonfiction narrative on the lives of its writers, subjects, and readers.
Website: https://riverteeth.submittable.com/submit

NOTICE: We are not affiliated with these writing opportunities or the websites that sponsor them. We can therefore not assure you as to whether or not they are reliable and trustworthy. While we have made every effort to visit the websites listed on this page, checked links, and read briefly into the events, there is no way for us to know whether every opportunity is the right one for you. Please visit the websites and read all information regarding the event before you make the decision as to whether or not the opportunity is one you are interested in pursuing.

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